Wicked Complications
by beautifulgeek11
Summary: Love does not complicate things, people do. When two physically attractive, emotionally fucked up individuals hope to find some kind of happiness, everything in their messed up lives seems to have gone from bad to worse. SasuInoNaru.
1. The Recent History

**Wicked Complications**

**October 27, 2012**

Chapter 1: The Recent History

Smeared makeup, messy hair, strappy heels dangling in her hand and an inevitable walk of shame.

Yamanaka Ino, 21-year old botany student at Konoha State University, entered her grand apartment as she smiled at her roommate. "I'm home."

Sakura's eyes widened when she noticed that Ino was still wearing what she had worn yesterday. "Shut up, you slut."

"What," Ino said defensively. "I barely said anything."

"You totally spent the night at some guy's apartment." The pinkette grinned widely at the pretty blonde. "I want all the details of your adult sleepover."

Ino threw her shoes at Sakura. "It's none of your business."

"Oh my God, who is it?" Sakura asked as if Ino had not said anything. She had known the Yamanaka heiress for awhile and had been rooming with her for two years that's why she knew her like the back of her hand. "Is it that cute redhead dude from your ethnobotany class?"

Sakura knew Ino had a thing for good-looking, mysterious guy who was a bit of an ass. She had sat with Ino in her ethnobotany class last week so she could runaway from Rock Lee, the typical nice guy who had no chance with any girl whatsoever. Ever since this semester had started, the guy had been pestering her and no way she would go out with him...not with that haircut and fashion sense.

"Nope," Ino answered as her eyes lit up a bit. "Even better."

"Neji." It was logical to pitch in his name as she remembered Ino talking about the brown-haired president council when the semester had just started two months ago. "Tell me you tapped that!"

"I wish." Ino sighed. "But I'm not exactly complaining," Ino inserted a small smile while biting her lower lip, "'cause I fucked Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura's jaw dropped as the name of her latest cheap one-nightstand registered in her brain. _Uchiha Sasuke._ The hottest and richest guy on campus that every damn girl was after – his family owned a banking business and from what Sakura had heard, his father – a fixture in business world – had donated ridiculously large amount of money to the school when Sasuke had chosen this college.

"Are you kidding me!" Sakura screamed after she had recovered from the shock. There was a rumor going around that Uchiha Sasuke had not fancied any girl at this university that's why he'd only slept with supermodels or movie stars. "You lucky ass bitch. How was he?"

"I don't remember too well cause I was really drunk," Ino said as she started to head to the bathroom. "I'm gonna take a quick shower then head to bed. I'm tired and a bit hung over. The party did get to me."

Ino jumped into the bathtub and turned on the shower. She had lied to Sakura because she remembered what had happened quite well last night at Naruto's, Sasuke's best friend, party.

…

Ino knew Naruto through one of her foundation classes during the first semester of her freshman year when she had happened to sit next to him and she'd been advised at her freshman orientation that she should make friends in her classes just in case she would miss class in the future. That wasn't a problem with Naruto either so they had just shaken hands and exchanged numbers; that's how they'd become hardly friends.

Hardly friends. When two individuals were just friends because they had a class together but did not hang out outside class. They would say hi when they ran into each other but that was it. She hadn't had a class with him for two years but she had bumped into him at the cafeteria the day before his birthday party so she'd been invited.

She had asked Sakura to come along but she'd known before she'd asked that she would get rejected. Partying wasn't her best friend's scene and Sakura had made her organic chemistry's test, which was in two weeks, as an excuse. That's why she had ended up going to the party alone.

The party was held at an exclusive club a couple blocks away from her apartment so she had to drive which meant from the start that no drinking excessively. That _had been_ her plan before she entered the two-story club with deafening rock music.

At almost midnight, a couple minutes before Naruto's actual birthday, Ino was already bored. She lost count how many drunk fraternity guys and jocks she'd turned down. She hardly knew anyone as Naruto and her did not have the same circle of friends. She would party every weekend and Naruto would too but with almost forty-thousand students at Konoha State University, they had never crossed path at a party scene before this.

Naruto was a part of an elite frat at the university but she had never really gone to a party hosted his fraternity as the girls that were usually invited were sorority girls that Ino could never stand. Her freshman year during week of welcome, every sorority was recruiting her to be part of them and Ino very _im_politely declined saying, _"Gross. Don't level me with you tramps."_ She had known how rude that was but she had always known that because she came from a family of money, she was easily untouchable at this university.

She had no idea why she had accepted Naruto's invitation, especially when her best friend had chosen to bail on her, when this was almost a frat party at a different venue. Maybe it was the "fuck it" attitude she was feeling that day when Naruto had invited her. Or simply because she had failed a midterm two days before that she'd studied so damn hard for that she'd just needed to loosen up with a drink or two...or more.

Either way, she ended up at the open bar area of the club, taking how many straight up shots of whiskey to neglect the feeling of boredom that was killing her. People said that being alone was the worst thing ever, but that was incorrect; being alone in a room full of people was.

_Maybe two more shots_, she thought as her eyes roamed around the club. Six shots later, she'd decided she was done and she should turn in. But then she remembered her gift for Naruto that she left in her car; she had decided that Naruto would likely be super shit-faced tonight that he would just misplace her gift if she'd given it to him at the club.

Speaking of Naruto, she had yet to see him and this was his party. She came up with a conclusion that he was probably getting laid in one of the bathroom stalls and she should just give him her gift the next time she saw him at school. After tipping the bartender generously, she got up the stool she had been sitting on for two hours, she heard someone call out her name, "Ino!"

She looked over her shoulder and saw Naruto grinning. "So you're not getting laid in a bathroom stall."

"Wait, wha -" Naruto was half embarrassed and half confused with what Ino had to say but he gracefully just shook it off, remembering why he had asked her to come to his party in the first place. "I have been looking for you!"

"Happy birthday!" She drowsily walked towards Naruto to give him a hug when she accidentally tripped on her own foot. Thankfully, Naruto was able to catch her before she was faced down at a club with so many KSU students as attendees.

"Okay, you're drunk," Naruto pointed out as she clung on to his neck, her laughter echoing his ears. "I was gonna ask you to meet a friend of mine but I guess you're gone!"

"Nah, I'm good!" Keeping her arms around his neck, she distanced her face from him. "I wanna meet your friend."

"No, you're most definitely not 'good'. I'm going to ask one of my frat brothers to take you home."

"No way." Ino leaned back to his ear once again to counter the loud music. "Believe me, hot stuff. I am still so down to do whatever."

It must have been her hot breath on his neck that_ he had to_ just push her away teeny bit from him. "Alright then."

Naruto gently and carefully led Ino to the VIP lounge at the second floor where a bunch of somewhat familiar faces were at. She was drunk out of her mind but she knew their names – some of them. No, she did not know them personally but she was almost sure that these men were some of the most well-known men at the university.

"This is Ino." Naruto grinned at them as he politely introduced her to his friends. "We had a class together when we were freshmen."

"Heeey." Ino smiled at the men seductively. No telling whatever it was going through her drunk mind but seeing her now, Naruto had a few ideas what might. "I'm Yamanaka Ino."

"Dude, she's drunk." A dark haired man with sharp teeth commented, almost amused. "But hot damn, this chick's a dime!"

"That's Kiba," Naruto let Ino know. "Then that's Shino, Neji, Gaara and Sasuke. Some of friends are at the dance floor or somewhere else. But these are my frat brothers."

"Gaara!" Ino said his name knowingly. "I have you for that ethnobotany class!"

The redhead just gave a nod and nothing else. That did not bother Ino one bit as she noticed the man sitting next to Gaara._ Neji._ She'd never had a class with Neji but she'd seen him once at a meeting of the organization she had wanted to join when this semester has just started. He was the president and if it not for a conflicting class schedule on her part, she would have absolutely joined the club.

"You look really familiar." Even when drunk as all hell, Ino tried playing coy with Neji. She remembered him very well and as a president of an org, many knew who he was. "I just don't remember where we -"

Naruto cut her off as he pushed Sasuke to Ino's direction. "-This is Sasuke and since you're not capable of driving back to your apartment he's going to give you a ride right about now."

Dark met blue. Ino was a bit astonished; she'd heard of who he was before not because she'd researched him but every person at the university had. Standing a head over her, he was almost staring down at her small face and she was staring right back. There was an awkwardness between them until Sasuke broke the eye-contact and grabbed her wrist. "Let's go."

"Hmm, forward," Ino commented teasingly. "I like your friend, Naruto."

As they were walking down the stairs, they heard Naruto asking Sasuke to take care of Ino and make sure she got home safe. The walk to his flashy blue sports car was just as awkward. Ino did not know how to make both of them comfortable once they were in the car and she really was not trying since her head was just spinning.

After a few moments, he finally asked her in a bland tone, "Where do you live?"

"Are you really going to take me home?" Ino closed her eyes to soothe her head. "Naruto was obviously trying to set me up with you." Her eyes still closed, she smirked. "I'm drunk as shit but there was no way I did not notice how he wanted me to be with you by cutting me off when I was trying to work my way to Neji. What a game killer."

Sasuke kept silent.

Opening her bright eyes, Ino looked at Sasuke. "You want me, don't you?"

He frowned. "What makes you think so?"

"Your friend Naruto was pushing you to me." Ino was aware that if someone was getting pushed to her by his friend, he must have liked her because she was the same way when Sakura liked some guy. She would make sure her best friend was violently pushed to the guy she fancied. That was friendship. "How subtle."

Sasuke chuckled a bit at her sarcasm. "That idiot just thinks so."

Ino had to raise an eyebrow at that. "So...Naruto's got it all wrong?"

He kept his silence once again and Ino smirked. She knew that silence didn't always mean yes because in this situation, she was pretty confident it meant (or it was only in her head), _No; I want you and I'm just so much of an egomaniac to actually confess that I do. I mean, it's not like I'm in love with you or anything but I want to get at that._

She dragged her eyes from his to his lips then back to his eyes. "Then kiss me."

When Sasuke had threatened Naruto this morning not to hook him up with any girl on campus, he had not expected someone like Ino to come up in the picture. What Sasuke had expected was a well-mannered, boring girl from a respected family, just like the very last time Naruto had played matchmaker for him. He had set her up with Neji's extremely shy cousin from a single-sex liberal arts college a few blocks away and it was the most awkward date he'd ever been to. Since then, Sasuke had not wanted Naruto to pick any girl for him.

"But this chick is real pretty and hot. She's rich, so you don't gotta' worry about her gold-diggin'," was Naruto's exact words as he'd described Ino.

Even with that, he hadn't been convinced. Until now when she'd softly asked him to kiss her.

He wanted to tell her, _Don't tell me what to do. I'm Uchiha Sasuke – I do what I want!,_ but nothing came out of his mouth. He wanted to do something but he wasn't sure what. What the hell was she trying to do to him, he wanted to know.

"Lemme me make this easier for you," Ino whispered to him as she opened the door of his car and got out. Closing the door behind her, she wobbly walked to the other side of his car and opened the door by the driver's seat, where Sasuke was sitting at. "Adjust your seat backwards and recline it."

Sasuke gave her a look. "What."

When he failed to act fast enough, Ino bent over and leaned in towards him to push the button on the bottom right of his seat to adjust it all the way back and recline it a little bit passed half way. Shocked with the motion, Sasuke glared at Ino. "What are you doing?"

Ino didn't respond. Instead, she went into the car, got on his lap, climbed up to him until his face was only a couple inches away from hers and then gave him the sweetest kiss he had not expected from someone like her.

Immediately, Ino pulled back to see a tiny bit stunned Sasuke. "Kiss me, dammit."

He didn't need to be told once more. Sasuke pulled her face forward and moved his lips against hers. Ino returned the favor, only this time the sweetness was gone – it was all heat and passion and lots of tongue. Straddling his perfectly muscular body, Ino pressed herself firmly against him while his hands found their way to her thick, long blonde tresses.

She cocked her head to the left to give him access to her long, bare neck. She bit her sultry bottom lip as he roughly kiss her neck hard enough to send waves of pleasure throughout her whole body. When Sasuke stopped for a second to glance at her, she started unbuttoning his expensive shirt.

And the rest was history...

…

_**Beautifulgeek11:**_ I missed writing for my OTP. This will be a SasuInoNaru. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! And yes; it's extremely likely that there will be steamy scenes in the next chapters...I mean, about damn time I write them.

PS - **Longioletto**, this first chapter was for you.


	2. The Wrong Advice

**Wicked Complications**

**January 25, 2013**

Chapter 2: The Wrong Advice

When Sasuke had come home the morning after his birthday bash, Naruto had not needed to ask any more questions. He knew that Sasuke would start to bitch once he came home if he hadn't liked what happened and as of current, he wasn't expecting his best friend to do so.

Because in Naruto's head, whatever it was that he'd had with Ino the night before, was something Sasuke had unexpectedly wanted.

_Damn, I'm good at this matchmaking thing._

"Is she any good?" Kiba playfully elbowed Sasuke, giving him mischievous looks. "Can't help but notice your car was still parked in the lot at three a.m.; although I personally dislike car sex, I wouldn't be complaining one bit if I were boning someone as hot as that girl."

Sasuke had been comfortable; that was until Kiba, Naruto and Suigetsu had come and disturbed the peacefulness of his surrounding. "It's none of your business how she was. Go away, all of you."

Suigetsu high-fived Kiba. "Looks like we have a winner."

"So...are you going to see her again?" Naruto chimed in, trying to get something out of Sasuke. Knowing his best friend, he probably would not do anything about it – about her.

"Like I said, it's none of anyone's business."

Taking his phone off his pocket, Naruto searched for Ino's number on his contacts. "I have her number. Call her, Sasuke."

Sasuke growled at the blond. "No."

"Is it okay if I get at her since you don't seem to be interested?" Suigetsu said, about to take Naruto's phone from his hand but backed off immediately when Sasuke glared at him. "Damn. Pretty possessive, I see."

Kiba laughed. "Good job, Naruto. Best of luck to all who try to come onto that chick."

Naruto's phone then vibrated. A message appear on his home screen – from Ino.

**Yamanaka Ino**

**I still have your gift. Let's meet up whenever you're free and sober.**

"Speak of the devil. She wanted to give me her gift. Should I just ask her to come by tonight and then leave before she gets here so she ends up spending time with you?"

Suigetsu nodded. "Sounds like a good plan. Or Sasuke and all of you can leave so sweet-tits can spend time with me. I'll show her the good time Sasuke probably wasn't able to give."

Kiba whacked the silver-haired in the head. "Keep your dick in your pants, asshat." Kiba then put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Don't worry, dude. We'll make sure everyone's out of the frat house by nine tonight. Makeup to her since you did her in the car...and doesn't your king-size bed sound more ideal."

"You three." Sasuke walked up to the door and opened it. "Get out."

"Harsh," Naruto commented before he, along with the other two, left the room. Sasuke closed the door and before he could go back and lay back on his bed, he heard Naruto, "She said she'll come by half an hour passed nine!"

Sasuke sighed. He didn't know what to feel towards the blonde that he'd spent the night with. He'd had a good time, and he couldn't deny that simple fact. She was extremely different – she seemed to have no care in the world whatsoever and he was undeniably drawn to that attitude of hers.

It didn't hurt that that she was stunningly gorgeous and had body of a goddess.

In his three years of this university, he'd had no sexual relations with a fellow student. Not because none of them he found attractive but he'd thought that no one was good enough for him. Being an Uchiha, he had standards that were nothing short of perfect when it came to women.

Because of his ridiculously selective nature, he'd only gone out with successful models and actresses, daughters of known businesspeople and no one else. Yes, they had to have money because he didn't want a gold-digger or social-climber.

That's why in his twenty-one years of living, he'd never been in a real relationship. And believe it or not, Sasuke would want to experience this stupid thing he'd heard about called love.

…

True to her words, Ino came knocking on the frat house's door at exactly nine-thirty.

Knowing it was Ino on the other side of the door, Sasuke breathed in and out before opening the door. As expected, Ino was standing while holding a small gift bag that was obviously for Naruto. "Are you not gonna let me in? I'm freaking freezing!"

Stepping aside, he let the blonde girl in a very thick jacket in. "Naruto's not here."

"I kinda figured he'd probably want me to hook up with you again. My roommate also told me he saw Naruto going into an apartment close to ours when I was about to leave."

Sasuke had to raise an eyebrow at that. "Even after knowing that he wasn't gonna be here, you still came?"

Taking three steps forward to close her distance from Sasuke, Ino bit her lips and looked Sasuke straight in the eyes as she removed her oversized jacket, revealing a low-cut tank top. "I took the bait purposely so I could see you again. You got me hooked."

That was all he wanted to hear.

And just like that, Uchiha Sasuke had all the desires in the world to take her.

He grabbed the blonde's face and neck with his rough and rather large hands and brought her to him, practically lifting her to his lips and crashing both of them to the sofa. His tongue immediately found hers and it was warm and tasted like cherry. The undeniable rush of adrenaline ignited through Ino's body and pooled in her tummy. Wrapping her skinny, toned arm around his neck, she brought him closer to her and thread her finger through his raven hair.

Ino pushed him away for a second to read his eyes. Before she had knocked on their frat house, she had badly wanted to know what he thought of her and right now, his perspective of the blonde couldn't be any clearer.

His unfathomable lust and attraction towards the woman in front of her. His immeasurable interest that he couldn't quite hide very well. His questioning of her trustworthiness.

Those were all in his eyes all at once and she would be lying if she insisted that she didn't feel her heart skip a beat when he gently pulled her again for a much slower and tender kiss. Sasuke had felt her smiled while he was kissing her so he asked her, almost whispering and his lips barely touching hers, "What's the matter?"

Ino opened her eyes and he was so close to her. Her smile grew wider before answering in a low-tone voice, "You're so easy to read it's almost laughable."

The distance between them grew wider when she once again pulled away. "Shouldn't you keep that a secret and use it to your advantage?"

She nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah but I have all the advantages I need. I said it because you might need a handicap. I just don't want you to get played too easily. Challenge me, Uchiha Sasuke. Show me all you've got."

Sasuke returned the smile, indicating that he'd taken her on whatever she'd wanted because he knew deep down that he wanted to get to know her and that he could win this, whatever this was that she was on. "What do you have in mind?"

Smirking at him, the blonde heiress stood up from the couch. "Hand my gift to Naruto. And I'll see you soon."

Once she put her jacket on, she left saying no more, leaving the raven-haired utterly speeches. Looking down at his trousers, he groaned.

_Great, now I need a shower._

After he took an extra long bath, he waited for Naruto to come home because out of everyone in his frat, he was his main confidant. Despite the love-hate-annoyance relationship they shared ever since elementary school, Naruto had known him best and when he didn't understand something about anyone, he would talk to him because Naruto knew people and he always saw the best people Sasuke couldn't see.

"She wants me to challenge her," Sasuke began. "What does that even mean?"

Naruto took a sip of his black coffee. "Excite her – that's what she wants. Ino seems like the girl who dislikes predictability and clichés. So I don't recommend those two."

Sasuke figured out that Naruto had just guessed, of course. He knew that Naruto barely knew her and even though they'd had a class together two years ago, he knew nothing certain of the woman who greatly spiked his interest. Although, for what he'd observed so far, Naruto didn't seem very far off.

She was different and no woman – or anyone, really – had the guts to ask him for a challenge. She had implied that this was a game to her and there was a chance that he could get played. Judging by that, she could be toxic and what sucked hard was that he couldn't stay away. He wouldn't want to, even if he could.

Since there was no way he would stay away from her, he only had one choice in order to not get poisoned: beat Yamanaka Ino in her own game.

And then it dawned him. He knew nothing personal when it came to her, except for the fact that her family owned a billion-dollar floral business. That and she tasted like cherry. That was about it, they had never talked about family, majors, friends – but then he realized that they had hardly talked ever since they'd met. Then again, it was hard to talk when their tongues had mostly been stuck at each other's throat.

How could he beat her when he knew nothing of her.

Sasuke looked at the blond next to him in the eyes. "Her number, give it to me."

"No way!" Naruto shook his head, a playful smile lingering at the corners of his mouth. "This is what you get for kicking us out of your room this morning."

"You wanted me to have her number this morning," Sasuke said, not very amused. "Hurry up and give it, you idiot."

"From what I'd heard, she has a class with Gaara on Mondays and Wednesdays." Naruto turned his back on his best friend but before walking away, he filled Sasuke in, "The lecture at the botany building ends at two in the afternoon. Ask her yourself for it."

He looked at the wall clock. 11:53p.m. It would only be Sunday once the right hand strike 12. He didn't know how he would sit out more than an entire day since he couldn't see her until Monday afternoon. That damn Naruto.

_Nice, Sasuke. You sound obsessive – you were just with her two hours ago. Get a hold of yourself; you're an Uchiha and how embarrassing it is that you secretly and badly want a woman's number. _

…

Monday afternoon couldn't have come any slower and he was waiting outside her classroom since Naruto had failed to tell him the exact room number she was in, he asked Gaara to just text to him earlier this morning and now, he was waiting for her outside of her class.

Her classmates started leaving the class as he intently looked for the blonde in sea of hungry and rushing students. He saw Gaara and nodded at him but said nothing since he wasn't here for him and when the crowd passing through the classroom door lessened greatly, he saw Ino talking to her professor.

When she was done talking to the tenure, her eyes landed on Sasuke and then smiled at him brightly.

"Didn't peg you to be the jealous-type that you had to wait for me in front of my class just to make sure no guys try to hit on me. What's next, meeting my parents?"

"Give me your phone."

Ino looked confused. "Come again?"

"Your. Phone," Sasuke said slower, as if Ino were inept. "Let. Me. See. It."

The blue-eyed stunner just shrugged and fished her phone in her bag and once she got it, she handed it to Sasuke. "Here you go."

He punched in some number and _his_ phone started ringing.

When he gave her phone back, Ino rolled her eyes. "What, you're too good to just ask me for it? I get it, _sweetheart_. Is there anything else that you desire? Except for my body, of course."

Sasuke reached fore her wrist and Ino cracked a small smile, remembering the first night they met he'd done the same thing at the club. Ino found themselves sitting across from each other at Konoha Bistro, a small, student-friendly restaurant on campus.

She had to give him credit because she had not expected something like this. She'd known that Sasuke would want to see her today, probably take her out but what she'd expected was a reservation at an expensive restaurant tonight. But she was dead wrong; Uchiha Sasuke might not be the typical rich, non-trusting, trust-fund baby that she'd first assumed.

A couple minutes after they sat down at the busy restaurant, one of the waiters came and asked if they needed more time to figure out what they wanted but Sasuke just shook his head and told the waiter, "We're ready to order. Pan roasted salmon for her and wood fired chicken breast for me; as for drinks, two strawberry lemonades."

The waiter jotted down his order. "Is there anything else, sir?"

Sasuke nodded. "That's all, thank you."

The server politely walked away after letting them know it could take about twenty-five minutes for their order to arrive.

Ino could only stare at Sasuke and her annoyance was palpable.

Sasuke didn't enjoy being stared at, even if the starer was as gorgeous as her. "What?"

"Just an update, women can vote now and they can as well order their own food."

Sasuke ignored her smart-ass remark and said, "I don't know anything about you – and I should. Twenty questions for both – ten questions for each and a followup question does count as one."

"I'm down," Ino said challengingly. "Hit me."

"You came over last night and then left right away," he began. "Why?"

"I just wanted to know what you thought of me. Speaking of which, what do you think of me?"

"I don't know." His answer was blunt. "What do you think of me?"

"A guy who thinks with his dick." Ino beamed knowingly. "Cause if you don't, you won't be here."

"You're wrong."

"Then why are you here, Sasuke?"

"Because I'm curious. Why are you here?"

"Because I want to fill in your curiosity," Ino answered as she winked at him. "We wasted five questions on nothing. You said you wanted to get to know me then ask me something what people ask on a date like what my favorite color is or something and by the way it's purple."

"Why botany?"

"Because not only I enjoy plants and science, I also look good in lab gown and lab goggles. And what's your major?"

"Finance, minoring in economics."

"Wouldn't have guessed that," Ino said with overflowing sarcasm. "Is that really what you want though?"

Sasuke shrugged. "It's what I need."

"You're obviously from a wealthy and powerful family," she stated. "So why this university – I mean it's public and even though it's not ranked badly, it's not one of the best."

"Before college, I had only gone to college preparatory boarding schools. I wanted change and I didn't think I could have that if went to a university filled with the kinds of people I went to school with before college," he explained and Ino understood. "Same question for you."

"I messed up pretty bad in high school – got expelled from pretty much every private school I was enrolled in and my dad couldn't bribe them any longer; so, in my senior year of high school, the only school that would accept me was this public high school a couple miles away from here and I really did like public school – no uniforms, more open-minded people, no formalities and I guess the feeling of being untouchable did help. You know, being super rich and all the good stuff that comes with it. I thought that it would just be similar if I went to a public university in the same city – so all of this is just a continuation of high school with better and more matured people." Her response to his question couldn't be more honest because that was exactly how it went down. Sasuke gave her a small smirk, perhaps an approval because in the world that he grew up in, someone as honest as she was would be considered rare. "This is a followup question – since you went to boarding schools and you weren't kicked out like I was and you chose to go here. How did your parents react to that?"

He was quiet for a second. "They didn't react to it, Ino. They died when I was six so they weren't able to react to the college of my choice."

Sasuke looked at her face, searching for the pity that he didn't want or need. It would be a normal reaction whenever he mentioned his parents to others. But Ino was different, her face hardly softened and there was no pity whatsoever in her eyes. He liked that because he hated being pitied.

Curiosity took over her. "Rumor had it that your dad donated a lot of money to this school – how could he if he had been dead?"

"It was in his will to donate certain amount of money to whatever college I decided to go to," he just said simply, as if talking about dead parents was normal. "He was probably turning in his grave though when I chose this college. How did your parents react?"

"My dad was just happy that I got into a university."

"And your mom?"

At that, Ino sipped her strawberry lemonade. "Good as dead – haven't seen or talked to her since I was thirteen."

There was silence that was neither awkward nor comfortable. Indifferent kind of silent. Sasuke thought this was the perfect timing to tell her. "I'm bringing you to a party on Friday."

"Ask me," Ino dared.

"No," he rejected. "You're going with me."

"You'll have to make me, Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked. "Not a problem."

…

And just like that, it was Friday night.

"So you're telling me," the rosette began, "that Sasuke – _the_ Uchiha Sasuke – is into you and want to bring you to a party, and from what I've heard, he's never brought a chick from our school to party before, and you're thinking of not going just because you don't feel like it?"

"That's right," Ino replied simply. "Besides, I've got a bunch of unfinished lab reports I have to get done before Tuesday."

Sakura could see through Ino. "Liar, you always finish your lab reports a week before its deadline because you're one of the very few that I know who actually enjoys sitting in a dumb botany lecture and participating in an even dumber botany lab." The green-eyed pre-med still cringed whenever she remembered the time Ino had talked her into crashing into her lab last semester and Sakura had sworn that would be the last time she would be dragged into a botany lab. Ino had felt bad afterward and bought her best friend dinner for the whole week. "So...what's the real reason?"

"I don't know what Sasuke wants from me."

She really didn't. The last four days were wasted hanging out with him – ordinary hangouts plus sex. Incredible sex, she might add. But she didn't know what else he exactly wanted when she was already opening her legs for him. She knew for a fact that Sasuke would not want a relationship with her because she could tell that he didn't fully trust her and the feeling was mutual. Sasuke had not really done anything for her that won her trust over.

The pink-haired walked over to the wary blonde, almost concerned. "You're Yamanaka Ino – you go with the flow and you never over-think. In fact, you hardly ever think when it comes to guys that's why you ended up having one-night stands with guys that were just bad for you way too many times."

Ino could only smile at Sakura because she always knew the right things to say.

"That's why don't think cause this – what you have with Sasuke – might be something really good and I hope to God that you don't ruin this by over-thinking things that don't even matter right now." Sakura returned the smile. "You'll find out what this is soon but for now, just enjoy it."

Ino took her best friend's advice.

And she shouldn't have.

…

_**Beautifulgeek11:**_Hi, I'm sorry it took awhile. And if you're not familiar with how plenty of American college students are like, they're very casual and relationships are usually fast-paced. In my experience anyway. This story is obviously modeled after a public American university since it's the only kind of tertiary educational system that I'm familiar with.


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